Reactions to budget 2018

In actual dollars, the increase remains a far cry from the $1.3-billion a year that the Naylor report said is needed to bring Canada’s research machine up to global standards. Anyone hoping for a bolder, more transformational move from Mr. Morneau was bound to come away disappointed. But the budget provides a 25-per-cent increase in the category of basic research, which is technically Ottawa’s biggest ever and enough for Mr. Morneau to claim a historic investment in research that is “on brand” for a government that wants to be seen as pro-science.

“There are gaps, but they’ve listened carefully and I have a high degree of confidence that in the years ahead we can talk to them about what else would help,” said Dr. Naylor.

The budget doesn’t provide the huge boost of more than Can$1 billion per year for the granting councils that Naylor’s report recommended. But it sets the right trajectory and shows that the government listened to scientists and took Naylor’s review seriously, says Jim Woodgett, director of research at the University of Toronto’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. “It falls short but it doesn’t preclude adding to it going forward,” he says. “Scientists should be sleeping well tonight in Canada.”

#SupportTheReport became a rallying cry on social media as many scientists mobilised around the country, organising meetings to drum up support for the report’s message, with a special focus on its funding recommendations. Biomedical and health scientists have been particularly vocal because the squeeze on funding for field-initiated proposals has resulted in steeply declining success rates among investigators reliant on the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).

The federal government is committing $6.6 billion to foster innovation and science, with $4 billion going to innovation and $2.6 billion going to science. And at the same time, Canada’s venerable National Research Council will get a major makeover.

In this commitment, unconstrained, fundamental research — conducted by Canada’s Granting Councils — will receive $1.2 billion, the largest ever injection of cash in Canadian history.